ToS: Journey of Regeneration
by Number 15
Summary: This is the story of Tales of Symphonia, with a few twists. The journey to regenerate the world has begun again, but what will come of it this time? ON INDEFINITE HIATUS
1. A Bright Light

Author's Note: A bit of information about this fic.

Basically, it's something of a "rewrite" of the events in Tales of Symphonia, starting at the very beginning and with an extra character. Also, it's primarily dialogue-based, so if it reads a bit like a game script, that's why.

By the way, it's not a self-insert fic. Stop thinking that--I know some of you are. Anyway...please enjoy my fic. )

**Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia and all it's characters, places, plot etc. do not belong to me. I only own Tobias**

* * *

_Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero's life was sacificed in order to take it's place. Grieving over the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens. The goddess left the angels with this edict: "You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed." The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world._

* * *

"Lloyd Irving, wake up! Lloyd!" 

The white-haired woman stood at the front of the classroom, one hand on her hip and the other clutching a chalkboard eraser, which after a few seconds, she threw at a brown-haired boy in the back of the classroom. Amazingly, the boy in question had managed to fall asleep standing up, holding two buckets full of water even.

"Gahh!" Lloyd exclaimed, spitting out bits of chalk dust as the teacher approached him. He had caught the eraser full in the face.

"How do you manage to fall asleep standing?" she asked, shaking her head.

Lloyd blinked a few times, then turned to his teacher. "Oh. Professor Raine. Is class over?" he asked hopefully. Raine shook her head again and sighed.

"Never mind," She headed back towards the front of the room. "Let's have someone else answer the question. Genis, what about you?"

"Yes Raine," answered Genis, standing up.

Behind him and just to the left of Lloyd was another boy who had also managed to fall asleep, but had so far avoided getting in trouble. He was draped over his desk, resting facedown on his arms. All that could be seen was a mess of blue hair that periodically emitted soft breathy noises.

"Hold on, Genis," Raine said, before the boy even began to speak. She left her desk once again and made her way to the back of the room where the blue-haired boy was still snoozing, reached out, and slapped the back of his head as hard as she could. It had the intended effect; the boy yelped and jumped clear out of his seat.

"Professor Raine…? What was the question?" he asked, slightly dazed.

"Honestly, Tobias, you're just as bad as Lloyd is." She glanced at Lloyd, who was staring absentmindedly out one of the windows and placed one hand to her head. "Genis, you may continue."

"Mithos, the hero, brought about the end of the Ancient War in the Holy Ground of Kharlan," Genis answered, quickly suppressing a laugh at Tobias' expense. Tobias frowned and leaned on one hand in an attempt to stay awake

"Correct. Afterwards, Mithos, the hero, formed a pact with the Goddess Martel to seal away the Desians whom caused the war.

"But the Desians came back and are now causing everyone to suffer!" Lloyd blurted out, his attention drawn away from whatever he was staring at outside.

"We covered that in class last time, remember?" Raine reminded him, sounding slightly exasperated. "When the Seal weakens the Desians reappear. Just like they have now."

"I…I knew that. I…I just forgot…" Lloyd stammered and this time both Genis and Tobias had to laugh at him.

Raine ignored the boys' laughter. "Today is the Day of Prophecy. It is a very important day, which the Chosen of Mana will receive an oracle from the Goddess Martel. Now, Chosen One…Colette."

"Yes, ma'am." As if on cue, a blonde girl seated near the front stood up.

"Tell us about the journey of world regeneration," Raine prompted.

Colette nodded. "It is a journey to seal the Desians. Upon passing of the trials of the Goddess Martel, the Summon Spirits that protect the world awaken and mana is restored." She remained standing and Tobias began prodding Lloyd, who had fallen asleep again, with a pencil.

"That's correct. I should expect the Chosen herself to know the answer to that question." Raine paused before going on. "Mana depletion is the cause of the current food shortages and droughts. It is said that this occurs because the Desians consume vast amounts of mana in their human ranches."

Colette finally sat down, but not before glancing back at Lloyd, who had woken up again. Raine continued her explanation of the journey of regeneration.

"The Chosen's journey has two purposes—to revive mana as well as defeat the Desians. Now, for the next question—" She was abruptly cut off by a bright white light that briefly lit up the classroom before fading away.

"Wh-what was that?!" Lloyd exclaimed, dropping his buckets in surprise. Everybody else turned towards the windows, and a few students even stood up at their desks.

"That's…" Colette started to say.

"Settle down," Raine interrupted, moving to the classroom door. "It would seem that the time for the oracle has come. I will go and check on the chapel. Everyone, stay here and study on your own, understood?"

"Professor! I'll go with you!" Colette said, moving towards the door as well.

"No, Colette. If it is the oracle, the priests will come here for you. Wait here with everyone else."

"Yes, ma'am," Colette replied, sounding somewhat disappointed.

After Raine left, the students began either studying or talking amongst themselves about what was happening, with most of the activity being of the latter variety. Tobias was being teased by a younger classmate about falling asleep in class as well as being accused of snoring loudly, which Colette found very funny. Lloyd, meanwhile, was heading for the exit. Until Genis spotted him.

"Lloyd! Where are you going? Don't tell me you're sneaking out! Raine will get mad!"

"I'm really curious to find out what happens to Colette when she receives the oracle," Lloyd explained. "They always talk about the Chosen of Regeneration and the Day of Prophecy, but no one tells us what really happens."

"Maybe they don't want you to know what happens," Tobias suggested, leaning on Genis's shoulder. Even though he was four years older than Genis, he was still not that much taller. Lloyd frowned.

"I still want to find out."

"But my sister said to stay and study by ourselves," Genis protested.

"It's research then." Lloyd shrugged.

"That's just an excuse!" Genis said, at the same time Tobias said "You have an excuse for everything, don't you?"

"So?" Lloyd countered. "An excuse is an excuse, right? Don't be so stuffy. You guys are coming too, right? We're best friends, after all!" He looked around for Colette briefly and found her sitting at her desk. "Colette, want to come along, too?"

"Huh? Um, okay. Where to?"

"Where else?!" Lloyd exclaimed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That light! You're directly involved in all of this. Aren't you curious?"

Colette thought for a moment. "Hmm…. Are you curious about it?"

"Of course!"

Colette smiled. "Okay, then I'll be curious about it, too."

"See, Genis? Dwarven Vow #4: Don't depend on others. Walk on your own two legs." Lloyd recited, causing Genis to roll his eyes, an action completely unnoticed by the other three. "Okay then, let's go to the temple!"

"Not the Dwarven Vows again. You always use those when you need an excuse…" Genis muttered as he followed his friends outside.

* * *


	2. The Temple

The group exited the school building—first Lloyd, followed by Colette and Tobias, who was yawning and stretching his arms and then Genis. It was a nice day, calm and sunny. However, Lloyd was looking around the village with a frown on his face.

"What's going on? It's awfully quiet."

"Where did everybody go?" Genis added. Tobias was about to add his two cents to the conversation, but was interrupted when a blonde man approached the group.

"Colette!" the man called.

"Father!"

"Oh, Frank."

"Frank!"

"Thank goodness you're safe." Frank greeted them, giving his daughter a quick hug.

"Frank, what happened to everyone in the village?" Genis asked.

"They're all hiding. The Desians invaded the village just a short while ago. Thankfully, no one was hurt. They passed through the village and headed for the temple." Frank waved his hand through the village and ended by gesturing in the direction of the temple.

"Why?!" Genis nearly shouted. "Iselia has a non-aggression treaty with the Desians!"

"You mean that agreement where they don't attack the village as long as we leave the human ranch alone?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes. Grandmother said it's to protect me," Colette replied. Suddenly, she gasped. "Oh! Where's Grandmother?"

"Phaidra is in the temple—" Frank began before being interrupted by Lloyd.

"Phaidra's in the temple? But that's where the Desians—"

"The priests are there with her," he assured Lloyd. "There's no need to worry. Now, Colette—"

"I know, I promise to fulfill my duty as the Chosen," Colette said, and Frank nodded, despite being interrupted twice.

"Good luck, Colette." He turned to the other three. "Lloyd, Genis, Tobias. You three should go on home."

Lloyd and Genis shook their heads. "I'm worried about letting Colette go by herself. I'll go with her to the temple."

"Me too," Genis agreed.

"I'm going as well," Tobias said. "You don't get to see stuff like this too often."

"But…all right." Frank was defeated. "Thank you. I'll wait at home. Come back _immediately_ if anything happens."

The four set off towards the temple, but had only just passed the wall of the schoolhouse when Colette shrieked and Lloyd reached for his swords. Not far away, a zombie lurched its way towards the village, pretty much headed directly for the four kids standing at the exit.

"Whoa, it's a monster!" Lloyd exclaimed, unsheathing his swords.

"That's odd," Tobias muttered, unsheathing his own blade.

"I thought the northern region where the temple is located was a sanctuary! Why are there—" Genis started.

"It must be part of the trial," Colette explained. "Martel's trial involves battling monsters."

"We don't have time to talk! Let's get this thing!" Lloyd shouted.

"Roger!" Genis replied.

Lloyd charged the zombie, which had ended up right in front of him while the group was talking. Colette followed him, and Genis and Tobias stayed where they were and began casting magic. Lloyd got a good hit in, managing to chop the zombie's right arm off, though it didn't really deter the monster, while Colette attempted to slash it with one of her chakrams and ended up overbalancing and falling.

"Get him! Fireball!"

"Take this! Thunder!"

Three fireballs and a thunderbolt hit the zombie simultaneously, causing it to fall to the ground, where Lloyd stabbed it just for good measure. It disentigrated, and everyone cheered.

"That was easy!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was pretty easy," Tobias echoed.

"You're amazing, Lloyd!" Colette said.

Lloyd grinned sheepishly "Ah, well, I owe it to this thing, though." He patted the strip of white cloth wrapped around his left hand.

"Oh yeah, the Exsphere."

"Yeah." Lloyd looked very proud of it. "It's designed for combat and brings out my maximum strength. Without this thing, I'd be nothing."

"But you're still strong, Lloyd!" Colette chirped, smiling.

"Yeah, at least his sword skills are good," Genis muttered.

"What do you mean, 'at least'?!"

Tobias waved his arms to get their attention. "When you two are done arguing, you might want to turn around." Genis and Lloyd stared at him for a few seconds, and then spun around. Not far away were two zombies this time, as well as a ghost.

"There's another one!" Lloyd shouted as if he had spotted the monsters first. "Let's go, you three!"

"Wait! The Professor said magic is more effective than physical attacks against non-physical and spiritual monsters." Colette reminded him, sounding a bit like a textbook.

"Really?" Lloyd asked. Tobias gave her a 'what are you talking about?' look and Genis rolled his eyes at Lloyd.

"Yes!"

"Okay, okay then. I'll leave the ghost to Genis and Tobias. I'll go for the Zombie! Okay, here we go!"

"Okay!"

"Yeah!"

Again, Lloyd headed for one of the zombies, while Colette headed for the other one. Tobias immediately started casting, but just as he started, he was hit from behind by the ghost he had failed to notice was behind him, effectively killing his concentration. He backed away, right into one of the zombies and stumbled. The zombie disentigrated a second later after a blow from one of Colette's chakrams. A couple of Fireball spells later, the ghost went as well and then the zombie.

"It's important to choose the target wisely when there's a lot of monsters, or if we're up against a dangerous one," Lloyd said after everyone had recuperated from the battle.

Colette nodded. "It's especially important when saving an ally that's in trouble."

"We have to be careful," Genis added.

"Let's go to the temple!" Lloyd commanded, pumping a fist into the air.

"Okay!"

"Yeah!"

"That was an amazingly quick topic change."

---

"Whoa…that light really _is_ coming from the temple!"

Lloyd, Genis, and Tobias stared up at the column of light with various levels of surprise.

"Wow…" Tobias murmured.

"Then an oracle is going to be conveyed. Colette's going to be the Chosen of Regeneration."

The three boys turned to Colette, who was partially shading her eyes from the light with her hands, expecting some sort of comment from her.

"It's really, really bright!"

Lloyd hung his head, Genis buried his face in his hands, and Tobias raised an eyebrow.

"Say, Colette, when the oracle is conveyed, you'll become the Chosen who will save the world, right?" Lloyd asked. "You're going to be like the hero, Mithos! So maybe you should act a bit more, you know, Chosen-like."

"Yeah! No problem. No problem."

While Colette was attempting to act "more Chosen-like", Genis had turned his attention to the stairs leading up to the temple. Tobias glanced over, slightly confused, but soon knew what Genis was focused on.

"Hey, there's a lot of commotion at the temple," the younger boy said.

"It sounds like a battle," Tobias said, nodding. Lloyd ran past the pair and up the stairs a bit.

"You're right!"

"Chosen One!"

Everyone looked up to find the source of the voice. It turned out to be one of the priests, who was clutching his stomach and barely managing to walk down the stairs. When he was within ten feet of the group, his legs gave way and he fell down the steps. Tobias lunged for him and barely managed to catch the man before he hit the ground.

"Pastor?!"

"Hey, are you all right?"

"Is he still alive?" Genis wondered.

Tobias held his hand over the priest's mouth. "He's still breathing. Barely." He shook the priest's body a bit. "Wake up, come on."

"Guh…" the priest coughed.

"He's okay!" Genis exclaimed.

"The Desians…" the priest gasped, "…broke the non-agression treaty and…attacked the temple…Chosen One…quickly…the oracle…"

"I know." Colette sounded close to tears.

"Please…be careful…I regret…that I will not…be able to protect…the…Chosen…" The priest let out a shuddering breath and died right there.

"Pastor! Hang on!" Colette cried.

"It's no good. He's gone."

"Noo!"

Everyone grieved briefly, and then helped Tobias move the body over to the side of the path where it wouldn't be stepped on. Colette looked up the staircase.

"I'm going." She took a few steps up the staircase, but Genis ran after her and grabbed onto her right arm.

"Colette! There are Desians in there!"

"Yes, but I have to go. I'm the Chosen. My job is to accept the oracle on the Day of Prophecy. You three wait here, okay?"

"No way. I'm going, too," Lloyd protested. "I can't let you go by yourself."

"Are you sure? It's dangerous."

"Dwarven Vow number 1: 'Let's all work together for a peaceful world'. Let's go."

"Wait, I'm going, too," Genis replied. "I'm worried about Raine."

"I'm not worried about the Professor. But I'm going, too."

Colette beamed. "Thanks, all of you!" She ran ahead up the stairs, while the boys followed. At the top, they encountered a group of Desians along with a dark-haired man surrounding an old woman in front of the entrance to the temple.

"Where is the Chosen?" the dark-haired man demanded.

Phaidra stepped back a bit, and then caught sight of Colette and Lloyd at the top of the stairs.

"Run, Colette!" she shouted, causing the soldiers to do an about-face to Colette's group.

"Lord Botta, there she is!" one of the Desians shouted. Botta turned his attention from Phaidra.

"Chosen One, your life is mine!" Botta said.

Lloyd drew his wooden swords and moved so that he was slightly in front of Colette. "I won't let you Desians get away with anything!"

Oddly, the Desian that had alerted Botta to the group's presence started laughing, causing everyone but them to exchange confused glances.

"Desians? Hahaha!"

"What's so funny?!" Genis said, having gotten out his own weapon.

"Well then, die at the hands of the Desians you so hate," the Desian replied, still chuckling. "Get them!"

The three Desians rushed the group, and everyone but Genis intercepted them. The battle took a bit longer than the ones with the monsters, as the enemies were actual living beings, and nobody actually wanted to kill them. Lloyd swiped at his enemy, trying to get under his guard to knock him out. Tobias got into hand-to-hand combat with one of the Desians after the guy got his whip wrapped around Tobias' sword, rendering both weapons useless. Colette was the first to down someone by conking them on the head with one of her chakrams and Genis set Lloyd's Desian on fire with a well-placed spell. The last Desian received a punch directly to the face and went down; Tobias freed his sword.

Before anyone could say or do anything else, a large man swinging a spiked ball-and-chain weapon walked into the fray.

"Do not get in our way!" he shouted, advancing on the group.

Everyone immediately did just that and attacked the man, though as they soon found out, he was very strong. Lloyd and Colette did minimal damage to him, and he responded to their hits by swinging his ball-and-chain or a hammer at them. The magic users weren't doing too well, either.

"Man, this guy is really tough." Lloyd fell down on one knee, using one of his swords to hold himself up. Genis was sitting on the ground nearby between Tobias and Colette.

"This guy's strong!" Genis moaned.

The man swung his weapon down in an attempt at a final blow at Lloyd, who closed his eyes. When he didn't feel anything for a few seconds, he cautiously opened one eye and saw purple. It was a brownish-red-haired man, clothed in a purple bodysuit and cape, and it was apparent that he had blocked the attack.

"Get out of the way," the man commanded, shoving the larger man backwards. Lloyd jumped to his feet, exhaustion forgotten, and Genis did the same while Tobias helped Colette up. The large man wasn't out for the count yet, so the group renewed their attacks on him, joined by the new guy. They quickly beat him.

Botta had been standing on the sidelines the entire time, except to drag his men off the mini battlefield and attempt to revive them. The new guy approached him, and he backed up.

"I never thought you'd show up. Damn… Retreat for now!"

After he was gone, Colette squealed at the new guy. "You're amazing!"

Genis agreed. "This guy's incredibly strong!"

"Y-yeah. I-I suppose so," Lloyd said, not actually looking at the man.

"Is everyone all right?" the man asked, surveying the group, his gaze lingering slightly longer on Tobias and Lloyd. "Hmm…no one seems to be hurt." Just then, something flashed on the man's left hand.

"Is that an Exsphere?" Lloyd asked.

"How can I ever thank you for saving the Chosen?" Phaidra approached the group.

"I see. So this girl is the next Chosen," the man stated.

"That's right! I have to go accept the oracle! Grandmother, I'm going to undergo the trial now."

"What trial?" Lloyd asked, having had his first question ignored.

"The monsters, I assume. An evil presence radiates from inside this chapel," the man replied.

"Yes, that's correct. The Chosen is to receive judgement from heaven. But the priests that were to accompany her fell at the hands of the Desians." Phaidra looked sad.

"Then I'll take on the job of protecting Colette." Lloyd moved towards Colette to assume his "bodyguard" duty.

"Lloyd? I would be uneasy with just you."

"What about me? I can protect her, too," Tobias suggested.

"Your name is Lloyd?"

Lloyd turned to the purple-clothed man. "Yeah, but who are you to ask for my name?"

"I am Kratos, a mercenary. As long as you can pay me, I'll accept the job of guarding the Chosen."

Phaidra nodded. "Under the circumstances, I have little choice. Please be of service."

"It's a deal then," Kratos agreed.

"W-wait! I'm going, too!"

"Lloyd, you'll only get in the way. Be a good boy and wait here."

"Gotcha." Lloyd crossed his arms and smirked. "Then I'm just going to follow you on my own."

Kratos put one hand to his head. "You're a stubborn kid. Fine, do as you wish."

"I'll just do that. Let's go, Genis."

"Lloyd, I figured you were going to say that." Genis replied, following his friend into the temple.

"Of course!"

"Wait for me! Genis! Lloyd!" Tobias shouted, running after them.

"This isn't a field trip, you know," Kratos muttered.


	3. Angels and Rings

A/N: Yes, a dreaded Author's Note in the middle of the story. But I have to say a couple things.

1. This fic is mostly for fun, but I'd like some input from readers (as in reviews). I see that people are reading it, but I don't know what they think of it. I'd at least like someone to say _something._

2. Yes, the fic is kinda boring right now. It's sticking fairly close to the script, but it'll change soon, I promise.

* * *

"So this is what the temple looks like inside," Lloyd commented, looking around the temple's lobby. It was large and round, with four sets of staircases leading upwards from the center, which was lower than the rest of the room. Colette was the only one in the group who didn't seem too interested in the layout.

"Colette, you've been in here many times, right?" asked Genis.

Colette turned to him and tilted her head slightly. "Yeah, but it seems different than usual."

"Is this supposed to be here?" Tobias cut in. He had wandered up the staircase straight ahead and was standing with Lloyd in front of an oddly shimmering wall. He reached toward it tentatively, but was disappointed when his hand hit what felt like a solid wall.

"I sense the presence of monsters," Kratos said suddenly. "Don't let your guard down."

"We can handle a few measly monsters. Let's go!" Lloyd bounded down the stairs and across the room, only to be stopped by Kratos, who calmly reached out and grabbed hold of one of Lloyd's scarves.

"Wait." He commanded. "Are your sword techniques self-taught, Lloyd?"

"Yeah. That's right." Lloyd said, attempting to free himself. Kratos let go and approached Lloyd, handing him a thin book.

"What's this thing?"

"If you're going to use a sword, then at least use the basics. You want to protect the Chosen, don't you?" Kratos tilted his head towards Colette.

Lloyd frowned and "hmph"ed. "You think you know so much!" he replied, adding "arrogant jerk" under his breath when Kratos had moved out of hearing range.

"I heard that." Or so he thought.

The group plus Kratos made their way through a narrow corridor and ended up at a staircase leading further down. Lloyd took the lead downstairs, followed by Colette, Genis, Tobias, and finally Kratos. The stairs soon ended on a platform with a number of square holes in it in the middle of a huge room. Genis immediately noticed something off to the group's right.

"Look, look! There's something glowing!"

"Wow! Let's go see it!" Lloyd shouted, doing just that.

The object in question sat on a pedestal on the lower level of the room, below the platform. Lloyd appeared ready to leap off the platform in pursuit of the glowing object.

"Look, there's something here," said Colette. The three boys turned around to see a large golem approaching Colette, who seemed oblivious to the fact that it was a monster. Kratos ran in before anyone else could react and jumped in front of Colette, and the other two swordsmen followed him into the fray. A few minutes later…

"Wow, it turned into a rock!" Colette exclaimed, as the golem, instead of vanishing or disintegrating, turned into a large block where it fell.

"Well, it was kind of a rock to begin with," replied Lloyd.

"Yeah…oops!" Colette moved forward to examine the rock further, but overbalanced and fell onto the block, shoving it forward and conveniently into one of the holes in the floor and filled a gap in the path below.

"Oh, no!" Colette cried, scrambling to her feet.

"Uh…"

"Weird…"

"I get it," said Genis.

"I see." Kratos agreed.

"What are you two talking about?" Lloyd demanded, slightly confused.

"In just a moment, it'll probably…" Genis started to say before interrupting himself, "See, there it is." He pointed across the platform, where a second golem had just appeared. Lloyd jumped.

"Whoa, there's another one!"

"Yeah. Now let's take care of it and drop it below!"

Everyone went for the second golem and defeated it just like the first one, transforming it into a block as well. Tobias and Colette took the job of putting the blocks where they needed to go while the other three took on the golems, each one appearing only a few seconds after the one before it had fallen.

Half a dozen fights and a couple First Aids later, the group stood around the glowing object, which turned out to be a gold ring with a red stone on it. Lloyd picked it up and slipped it on his hand.

"Is this the Sorcerer's Ring?" Genis wondered, examining the ring. "I've heard about it before. It's a holy artifact of the Church of Martel!"

Kratos nodded. "With this, we should be able to deal with most traps and obstacles."

"I'll bet it can take down that weird wall in the lobby," Tobias said.

"Wow! Let me try it!" Lloyd exclaimed, momentarily forgetting he was wearing the ring. But he did try it. The ring shot out a small ball of fire, which narrowly missed Genis' hair.

"You're like a little kid, Lloyd."

"Shut it, Genis. Let's go try it on that wall."

---

"It's sealed," Kratos said of the seal.

"The Sorcerer's Ring can probably open it," Colette said.

Lloyd held the hand with the ring out proudly. "Okay! Leave it to me!" He pointed the ring at the seal and activated it again. This time, when the fireball came in contact with the seal, it slowly faded away. Lloyd frowned.

"Oh. Is this _all_ the Sorcerer's Ring does?" He took off the ring and handed it to Tobias, who was standing right next to him.

"You get bored so easily." Genis sighed. The group moved forward and ended up in a completely different room.

"This appears to be the top floor," Kratos stated. They were all in a small room with a domed ceiling and a large round raised area that took up much of the room in the center. There wasn't much room for anyone to stand aside from shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Yes. That's the altar."

"Then that shining thing there must be the Cruxis Crystal," Lloyd said.

"That's right," Colette chirped. "They say I was born with that in my hand."

"Look at that light!" Genis suddenly interrupted, pointing at the ceiling.

A bright light, much like the one the three teenagers and Genis had seen in the school flared up, and when it dimmed, a winged figure appeared in the air in front of them. He appeared to be a priest, with short blonde hair and white wings.

"Wh-what is that?" Lloyd sputtered at the priest.

"An angel, I would assume," said Kratos.

"So that's Colette's real father?"

"I am Remiel," the priest answered, hovering slightly lower. "I am an angel of judgment. I am here to guide Colette, daughter of the mana lineage, on her journey to heaven as the seventh Chosen. The time has come to awaken the Goddess Martel, who sleeps at the center of the world."

"This is one long-winded angel," Tobias muttered under his breath. Kratos cast a brief but annoyed glance at him.

"Awaken the Goddess Martel…" Genis repeated. "It's just like the legend Raine told us about."

"From this moment, Colette becomes the Chosen of Regeneration." We of Cruxis bless this event, and hereby bestow the Tower of Salvation upon Sylvarant."

As Remiel spoke, the Cruxis Crystal rose up from the altar and floated over to Colette, where in a flash of pink light, it attached itself to her chest, visible through a diamond-shaped opening in her jacket.

"There's the Tower of Salvation!" Lloyd exclaimed, peering out the window at the immense tower.

"Now the world will be saved!" Genis cheered.

"Colette," Remiel spoke again, "the Chosen of Regeneration. Unlock the seals that guard the Tower of Salvation and climb its stairs to heaven in distant lands."

Colette nodded. "I humbly accept this task."

"Very good. We of Cruxis shall grant you the power of the angels with each seal you unlock. Once you are reborn as an angel, this eroded world shall be regenerated."

"Thank you. I swear on my life that I will regenerate the world."

Remiel nodded. "First head south, to the Seal of Fire. Offer your prayers in that distant land."

"Yes, Lord Remiel," Colette said. Remiel started to float back up, but stopped when Colette cried out. "Uh, wait! Please wait! I have a question to ask of you. Are you really my f…"

"First head to the Seal of Fire," Remiel interrupted, repeating his earlier words. "Understood? My beloved daughter, Colette."

"F-father! You really are my true father!"

"We shall meet again at the next seal, my daughter." That time, Remiel did leave.

"So that was the oracle. I wish Raine could have seen him," Genis said.

"I wonder if Dad would have liked to see it," Tobias wondered.

"I can't believe Remiel is my father!" Colette exclaimed when Lloyd approached her from his spot by the window. "Oh, I'm all right. I was just a little surprised, that's all."

"You've received the oracle," Kratos said, also approaching Colette. "Let us leave now, Chosen." In response to the boys' confused faces, he added, "Colette must now go on a long journey to search for the seals. We're going on ahead."

"Uh, thank you, all of you. Please stop by my house later." Colette gave a small bow and followed Kratos.

"So the rumor was true," Genis said.

"Huh? What rumor?" Lloyd looked confused.

"That Colette is the daughter of an angel and is not really related to her current father."

"I've never heard that rumor before," Tobias said, frowning.

"Even if you're not related by blood, family is family. At least, that's what I think."

"I-I'm sorry," Genis said.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Lloyd shrugged and teleported out of the room, followed by Genis and Tobias. They wandered into the lobby and were about halfway across the depressed area of the room when they heard a woman's voice.

"Marvelous!"

"Professor?" Lloyd asked. Genis and Tobias both adopted "what an idiot" expressions.

"What?" Raine turned around and immediately her students froze. "What are you three doing here?! You're supposed to be studying in class!"

"Uh! Uh-oh."

Raine got to Genis first. Lloyd closed his eyes and Tobias just turned his head away while Raine spanked Genis.

"You're next, Lloyd," she said a few seconds later. "Are you ready?"

Lloyd's eyes snapped open and he backed up in an attempt to escape Raine. "Whoa, no, hey, stop!" However, Raine didn't listen and Lloyd received a kick to the stomach and crashed into the wall behind him. Tobias started backing up well in advance, but the Professor still noticed him.

"Not so fast, Tobias. You're next."

"Ah, no, uh…"

He didn't get any further, as his feet were swept out from under him and he hit the ground hard. Raine stood in the middle of the three boys, hands on her hips.

"Now, you three, if you've learned your lesson, go back home. There will be no class for the rest of the day."

"What about you?" Genis said, rubbing his butt where Raine had hit him.

"I've received permission from Phaidra to study this temple a little while longer. It's not often that ordinary citizens have the opportunity to enter this place." Raine wandered off and the boys got up, wincing.

"Your sister is scary," muttered Tobias, adjusting his ponytail. Lloyd rubbed his stomach and nodded.

"Let's go before she sees us again," Lloyd suggested. Genis and Tobias agreed and they headed out. Just as they set foot at the entrance, a sinister laugh reverberated throughout the temple.

"What was that?"

Genis shook his head. "You're better off not knowing." The three left, somewhat more freaked out than when they entered the temple.\

* * *


	4. Children should stay home

Chapter four, chapter fooouur...

* * *

"I'm kinda disappointed," Lloyd said randomly. Genis gave him an odd look and Tobias dragged his gaze away from the rock he had been kicking all the way from the temple.

"About what?" Tobias asked.

"The oracle. I thought it was going to be a much bigger event."

"What sorts of things were you expecting?" Genis asked, sounding somewhat annoyed.

"You know, something…amazing!" he replied, excited.

"Like what?"

Lloyd thought for a moment. "Maybe…an angel as big as a mountain comes flying down from heaven carrying the Tower of Salvation!" He pulled out one of his swords and held it like he thought an angel would hold the tower. "Then, he sticks the tower into the ground!" He stuck the sword into the ground and let go of it. It promptly fell over.

"That would be cool to see," Tobias said, staring at the fallen sword. "But wouldn't an angel that large scare some people?"

"Yeah, but it would be interesting to see!" Lloyd countered.

"Um…yeah. You guys are weird." Genis shook his head.

Lloyd pouted, and the group continued on their trek back to the village. Just outside the gate, Lloyd gasped.

"Uh-oh."

"What's wrong now?" Genis asked.

"I forgot to return the Sorcerer's Ring."

"We can just give it to Phaidra later."

"Um…we can't. I lost it." Lloyd was patting down his clothes in search of the ring, and even checking inside his boots and sword sheaths.

"You lost it?"

"No, he didn't. I have it." Tobias held out his right hand for them to see; the ring was on his middle finger. "You handed it to me after destroying the seal in the temple, remember?"

"Oh." Lloyd looked relieved, then suddenly brightened. "Say…"

"No," Genis interrupted.

"But we went through a lot of trouble to get it!" Lloyd whined. "No one's gonna get mad if we borrow it for a little while. Come on! Please?"

Genis sighed. "Fine, fine. You're not going to do anything bad with it, are you?" Lloyd shook his head, and Tobias handed him the ring.

"Are you guys coming or not?" Genis called. Lloyd and Tobias looked up to see Genis standing well ahead of them on the path leading to Colette's house.

"Where are we going now?" Lloyd called back, confused.

"You're stupid, Lloyd." Tobias said, grabbing Lloyd's arm and pulling him towards Genis.

Outside the house, there was an argument about whether or not to knock on the door or just go in, which Lloyd solved by doing the latter. Inside, the mayor, Colette's family, and Kratos were seated at a table, and seemed oblivious to the three boys who had just come inside.

"Then, we shall entrust the protection of the Chosen to Kratos and Raine," the mayor stated.

Kratos nodded in agreement. "I have no objections."

Colette suddenly noticed her friends standing nearby. "Thank you so much for your help earlier!" All heads turned towards Lloyd, Genis, and Tobias.

"Ohh, you're back! Thank you for your help earlier!" Phaidra said, echoing her granddaughter. "Please accept this small thanks." She motioned Lloyd over and handed him a notebook with, and he flipped through it; the pages were all empty.

"Thanks, Phaidra. Say, where you talking about the world regeneration journey just now?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes."

"Wow! I want to go, too! I want to see Colette regenerate the world!" Lloyd tried to be excited without _looking_ too excited.

"If Raine is going, I want to go, too."

"If they go, I want to go, too." Tobias attempted to embrace Genis, but failed when the younger boy dodged out of reach.

"No. You'll get in the way," Kratos answered, dashing everyone's hopes—except perhaps Phaidra's.

"Wh-what?!" Lloyd stammered, basically speaking for all three boys.

"The battles at the chapel were nothing compared to the journey that awaits us," Kratos explained. "Children need to stay home."

The mayor agreed. "Kratos is absolutely right. Now then, we still have things to discuss." He turned back to the group seated at the table and, without looking at the boys, added, "You three should go on home."

The group was outside once again, and both Tobias and Lloyd were muttering about how they were _not_ children and who did Kratos think he was when the door opened and Colette stepped out.

"Please, wait!" she called, walking towards them. Inexplicably, she lost her balance and waved her arms in an attempt to stay upright, but landed on the ground anyway. She immediately stood back up. "Oops. I'm sorry."

"It's not like it was your fault," Lloyd said.

"Oh yeah. I'm sorry."

"Listen! Ah, never mind." Lloyd sighed.

"Oh yeah! Happy Birthday, Colette!" Genis exclaimed, conveniently changing the topic. Lloyd looked confused and Tobias suddenly became very interested in a strand of his own hair.

"I baked you some cookies," Genis said, producing a bag of slightly broken cookies from a pocket. "If I knew you'd be leaving tomorrow, I would've made something a little more special."

"No, no! I love your cookies! Thank you very much!"

"What about you guys?" Genis asked Lloyd and Tobias. "You promised to make her a necklace, right Lloyd? And you were going to make something, too, right Tobias?"

"Uhh…hehe."

"Yeah…"

"Don't tell me you both forgot."

"Uh, it's almost done," Lloyd assured Genis and Colette. "I'll…uh…give it to you tomorrow, before you leave. I swear!"

"Mine is…uh…in my house. I just need to find it. I'll give it to you tomorrow as well." Tobias answered.

"Really? I'm so happy!" Colette chirped. "As soon as I find out when we're leaving, I'll let you know."

"Isn't it going to be dangerous?" Lloyd asked anxiously.

"I'm the Chosen, remember? I'll be fine." She giggled nervously; Lloyd failed to notice. Colette glanced back towards the house. "See you later then." She managed to make it back to the door without falling, and disappeared inside.

"Liars." Genis glared at his friends.

"I was telling the truth," Tobias replied.

"If I start on it now, I'll finish it in time." Lloyd held his hands up in self-defense.

"Oh, really?" Genis sounded skeptical. "Well, whatever. By the way, Lloyd, you're going home now, right? Can I go part of the way with you?"

"Sure, but where are you going to go?

Tobias looked confused this time. "Isn't Lloyd's house way out of your way?" he cut in.

"I'm going to see a friend."

"Huh? I didn't know you had friends outside the village besides me."

"Unless he's friends with the forest wildlife," Tobias suggested.

Genis waved his hand dismissively. "Does it matter? Anyway, can we swing by my house so I can get my stuff?"

Lloyd shrugged and everyone headed for Genis' house.

"Let's see…there should be some sandwich ingredients in here somewhere."

Genis searched the cupboard for the desired ingredients, a knapsack hanging from one arm while Lloyd lounged on one of the beds and Tobias examined bookcase in the corner, periodically removing books to flip through them.

"When you said you wanted to get ready, you mean picking up ingredients? Why are you bothering with that?" Lloyd complained from the bed.

"You shouldn't make fun of cooking," Genis scolded him, partially muffled since his head was inside the cupboard. "We can't use healing arts, so we need to use food to keep up our strength."

"Yeah, you're right. Gels aren't cheap."

"Exactly. Cooking is important."

"Genis," Tobias called.

"What?"

"Are all these books Raine's? Or do you have any books up here of your own?" Lloyd got up off the bed and joined Tobias by the shelf.

"Man, these look really tough. Does the Professor actually read stuff like this?"

"Those are all mine," Genis replied.

"All _yours_?" Lloyd stared at Genis, who shrugged.

"They're all Raine's old books, but they're so interesting, I had to read all of them." Lloyd stared at him for a few more seconds and then shrugged and left the house. The other two followed a few seconds later.

"This isn't the way to my house," Lloyd complained as the group walked back the way they came and stopped in front of the school.

"I think we're going to see if Professor Raine is here." Tobias tilted his head towards Genis.

"Oh." Lloyd shook his head. The pair went inside, joined Genis, and the three of them found Raine standing behind her desk, facing the chalkboard. Upon hearing the boys' footsteps, she turns around.

"Oh. Lloyd, Genis, Tobias. Class is over today."

"We know that," Lloyd replied. "I heard that you're going with Colette on the journey."

"Yes, that's right. It's too dangerous to send Colette alone."

"Then what's Genis going to do?"

"I asked Frank and Phaidra to take care of him."

"Raine, I—" Genis began, looking like he was about to cry.

"Genis, I promise I'll come back, so please, don't look like that," Raine gave her little brother a hug. "Lloyd, Tobias, please look after Genis for me," she said over Genis' head.

"Yeah…" Lloyd and Tobias muttered.

"Raine, please be careful. Don't do anything dangerous or go near any ruins."

Raine stepped away from Genis and patted his head. "I'll be fine."

"Promise me you'll come back!" Genis called as he was dragged out of the classroom by Lloyd, who was muttering about going home and spending too much time at school.

---

"Lloyd, do something about this…thing!" a guard yelled at Lloyd when the trio approached the village's main entrance.

"What?" Lloyd tilted his head, trying to see what they were yelling about.

"Your pet! This…creature!"

Just then, a large white-and-green animal approached the entrance and sat down a few feet from the guards. It looked a bit like a dog, although it had really big ears and was larger than most dogs. Lloyd grinned and ran towards it.

"Noishe!"

Noishe responded with a whine and licked Lloyd's face, and Genis' when he came over.

"Hey, don't do that!" Lloyd laughed and wiped drool off of his face before scolding Noishe. "How many times have I told you not to enter the village?!"

"Hey, you always have him bring you to the village," Genis admonished Lloyd. "Don't talk to him that way!

"Oh, that reminds me," said one of the guards. "Lloyd, the Mayor wanted me to ask you a question."

"From the Mayor? What is it?"

"It's about the forest that you go through. You know there's a human ranch on the way through, right? You haven't been playing near the ranch, have you?"

Lloyd shook his head. "Of course not! Right, Genis?"

"Y-Yeah. O-of course not," Genis stuttered.

The guard looked at Tobias, who shook his head as well. "Really? If so, that's fine, but that…weird animal…" He looked warily at Noishe.

"How many times do I have to tell you that Noishe is a dog?!" Lloyd shouted.

"Ah, sorry. He just doesn't look like a dog. Anyway, make sure he doesn't go near the ranch, either."

"W-We can go now, right? Let's go, Lloyd, Tobias," Genis said hurriedly.

"Be careful, you three," the guard said to them as they left.

"Yeah, we will. See you tomorrow," Lloyd said. "Time to go, Noishe." Noishe responded with a high-pitched whine.

"By the way, Noishe, why were you trying to go into the village?" Lloyd asked a little ways outside of the village. Noishe responded with a lower whine. Genis, who was riding on top of Noishe, patted the dog's neck.

"He was probably looking for you."

"You think so? He doesn't normally do that when I'm in the village."

"I think he wanted to see the Oracle, too," Tobias laughed, scratching Noise behind one of his big ears.

* * *


	5. The Ranch

Look! More fic!

* * *

The Iselia forest loomed ahead, both literally and figuratively, as the flat land gradually began to slope upward and jumped to sheer cliffs in some areas. It wasn't extremely dangerous, though it did have it's share of monsters, but the Iselia human ranch was located in the middle of the forest, and trespassing there was considered worse luck than meeting any of the monsters.

"So, who's this friend we're gonna go see? Is it the same one you've been giving all your lunches to?" Lloyd asked as he and Genis entered a clearing that marked the forest's boundary.

Genis glanced at him in surprise. "What? You knew about that?"

"I always see you hiding food in your school bag."

"Yeah." Genis looked slightly embarrassed. "She never has anything to eat so I feel really bad."

"That's really cool, Genis. It's really nice that you share what little food you have."

"Ah…it's not really that big of a deal."

Lloyd grinned. "Don't be modest! I'm sure that dog is really thankful!"

Genis took offense to that comment, causing Lloyd's grin to fade a bit. "D-dog? She's not a dog, she's human!"

"Really? I was thinking the entire time that you were keeping a pet dog in secret from the Professor." He glanced at his boots in embarrassment.

"Speaking of pet dogs..." came an irritated voice from the edge of the clearing. There, stood Noishe, who apparently refused to go any further, and Tobias, who was standing nearby, trying to coax the animal back into the group. Noishe whined in response.

"Ah, that's right. Noishe doesn't like this place," Genis mused.

"Doesn't he go through it every day with Lloyd?" Tobias wondered, confused.

"Nope. He'll never go near places like this that have lots of monsters." Lloyd indicated the forest. "Even though you hardly ever see monsters bigger than him."

Noishe whined in discontent and ran away. Lloyd frowned.

"He ran off again! So much for that," he grumbled before adding, "Fine, do whatever you want, Noishe!"

"If he's going to run away, he should take us with him." Genis sighed.

"Are you afraid of the monsters, too, Genis?" Tobias teased him.

"I'm not afraid of monsters!"

"You speak it, but you don't mean it!" Tobias replied. Genis shook his fist at Tobias, but didn't have a chance to do much more, since Lloyd shouted at them from up ahead.

"Come on, guys, I want to see Genis' friend. Let's go."

Genis and Tobias caught up to Lloyd and the trio had a relatively uneventful trip, at least for a few minutes, until a giant spider fell from a tree and nearly landed on Lloyd's head. His immediate reaction was to skewer the creature until it stopped moving and then request that Genis set it on fire. Finally, they reached an area where the path both went straight ahead and branched off to the left, the left branch being marked by a sign.

"Here's my stop," Genis stated.

"The Desian human ranch?" Lloyd wondered. "Doesn't going there violate the non-aggression treaty?"

"The Desians already attacked the temple!"

"Well, yeah, I guess that's true…"

"I know I'm not supposed to," Genis said. "But there's someone I just have to tell about the oracle!"

"All right." Lloyd surrendered the argument with a shrug. "But I'm worried about you going alone, so I'm going with you." The pair continued on the path, joined shortly by Tobias, who jogged up to the group about halfway across the area between the ranch entrance and the path.

Inside, there were a handful of humans dressed in worn and dirty clothes pushing enormous blocks across the enclosed area. The three boys watched as one woman took a brief rest from pushing her block, only to be quickly reprimanded by a nearby Desian.

"Stop slacking off, swine!" the Desian shouted, cracking his whip just over the woman's head. She gasped and went right back to pushing. While the guards were preoccupied, an older woman who wasn't pushing blocks made her way around to the front fence.

"Marble," Genis greeted, approaching the fence, but not touching it.

"Genis! Are these your friends?" she asked, glancing at Lloyd and Tobias.

"Yeah, I'm Lloyd."

"I'm Tobias."

"I'm pleased to meet you both," she replied, smiling.

As soon as the introductions were over, Genis took the opportunity to talk. "Marble, did you see it? There was an oracle!" He tried not to shout, in case one of the Desians heard and decided to come over and investigate.

Marble nodded. "Yes, I did. I saw the Tower of Salvation. Now, the Chosen's journey of regeneration can finally begin. I hope it is successful this time."

"The last Chosen failed, right?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes. I heard the Chosen was killed by Desians during the journey."

"I wonder if Colette will be all right?" Genis mused.

"Let us pray to Martel. May she guide the Chosen on a safe journey," Marble suggested. Genis and Tobias nodded.

"Hey grams—" Lloyd started to ask, before Genis interrupted.

"Her name's Marble!"

Lloyd moved away from Genis a few paces and finished his question. "Marble. Isn't that an Exsphere?" He pointed to the object in question, a round blue stone embedded in her left hand.

"Oh, is _that_ what this is called?" Marble wondered, examining her hand. "They placed it on me shortly after I came here."

"Yeah, it's definitely an Exsphere. But there's no Key Crest on it. An Exsphere without a Key Crest is really dangerous."

"What's a Key Crest? And how is it dangerous?" Genis asked.

"Attaching an Exsphere directly to your skin supposedly makes you sick," Lloyd explained. "But ironically, it's useless _unless_ you attach it directly onto the skin. So, in order to prevent it from making you sick, you carve a spell into a special ore and use it as a mount for the Exsphere. The mount is the Key Crest."

"You're very knowledgeable," Marble said. Lloyd looked pretty proud of himself at that comment.

"But Marble's Exsphere doesn't have a mount at all," Genis noted, examining her hand himself.

"Nope, doesn't look like it," Lloyd agreed. "If the charm was the only thing needed, I could carve one myself, but there's nothing I can do without the inhibitor ore."

"There has to be something you can do, Lloyd!" Genis cried.

"It's not as easy as you think. Key Crests are dwarven technology."

"Dirk's a dwarf. Can you have him make it?" Tobias wondered.

"Yeah! Your dad's a dwarf, Lloyd!" Genis agreed. "Please ask him for help!"

"But…I don't know what he's gonna say about this…" Lloyd tried to protest, but Genis ignored him.

"All right! That's why I like you, Lloyd!"

"Oh, come on! You're the one that brought up the Key Crest in the first place!" Marble berated Lloyd.

"Okay, okay, I'll ask him," Lloyd said, defeated.

"Please don't trouble yourself," Marble replied, somewhat contradicting herself.

"Hey, old hag! What the hell you doin' over there?"

All four of them turned to the source of the yelling to see three Desians approaching them. Tobias and Lloyd jumped back, but Genis didn't move from the fence.

"Oh no! The Desians! Run away, you three! Hurry!" she whispered frantically.

"But…" Tobias protested.

"Okay. I'm sorry, grams!" Lloyd pulled on Tobias' arm.

"I'm sorry, Marble!" Genis apologized.

"Don't worry, just go!"

The boys left just as the Desians approach Marble. They stop a few feet away, and she turns to face them.

"What are you doing over here?!" one of the Desians demanded angrily. "Who said you could slack off?! Get back to work!"

"I'm sorry," Marble said, not really sounding sorry.

"What's with that look, huh?" the second Desian demanded.

"Looks like someone's got an attitude problem!" said the last Desian.

"No, of course not, I…" Marble tries to explain.

"Shaddup!" the first Desian shouts, brandishing his whip at her before motioning to his comrades. "You two, take her to the back! We're gonna give her a little lesson on respect!"

"Yeah!" the other two shouted in unison, each grabbing one of Marble's arms and escorting her to the back of the enclosure. By this time, the other humans have paused in their work and are watching the scene.

"Oh, this doesn't look good. They're taking her to the back." Lloyd pushed back a few more branches in order to get a better look. Beside him, Tobias was trying to keep his hair from getting caught on the bush itself, and Genis was attempting to get a look himself.

"But what can we do?" Genis asked, not knowing exactly what was going on, other than what Lloyd had mentioned.

"There's gotta be _something_. Let's find higher ground where we can see what's going on in there," Lloyd suggested.

Tobias was the first to leave the bush hiding spot and made a beeline for a nearby cliff. He was kneeling at the top when Genis and Lloyd joined him.

"She's…"

"We've gotta save her!" Lloyd declared.

"But _how_?!" Genis asked.

"The gate's closed, and the fence is too high and far away to jump," Tobias said.

"Genis! You attack the Desians with magic."

"What?!" Genis nearly squeaked. "Aren't we going to get in trouble?!"

"We don't have a choice!" Lloyd said. "Afterwards, hide among the bushes and make your way back to the village with Tobias. I'll act as a decoy."

"But that'll put you in danger!"

"Don't worry. I'll head down the cliff so they don't see my face, then I'll run in the opposite direction from the village."

Genis thought the plan over for a few seconds before he answered. "Okay! But you should replenish your energy before we do this. I've got some leftover cookies from the ones I gave Colette." He produced a couple cookies. "Here, have some."

Both Lloyd and Tobias took some cookies and prepared to carry out their respective parts in the plan. Genis pulled out his kendama and cast Fireball, causing three fireballs to home in on the three Desians.

"What the…?!" one Desian shouted as his uniform started to smoke.

Meanwhile, Lloyd took a running jump and leapt to one of the gate's support pillar, in plain sight of the soldiers and human slaves, pausing before hopping to the other pillar and then to the ground.

"There he is!" another Desian shouted. "Stop him!"

"Open the main gate!"

The gate opened and the three Desians ran out, looking for Lloyd. The humans took the opportunity to make sure Marble was okay.

"Marble, are you alright?"

"Quickly, this way," one slave urged, leading Marble away.

"Genis, Lloyd, Tobias…thank you." Marble said quietly to herself.

Speaking of them, Lloyd was attempting to lead the Desians towards the cliff while Genis and Tobias escaped behind them. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out. Genis, while trying to hurry, lost his balance and fell. Tobias, who was behind him, tripped over Genis' legs and ended up on the ground as well.

"Oww..." Genis whined loudly. One of the Desians stopped in his pursuit and turned towards the bushes where Genis and Tobias were hidden, from his point of view.

"What was that?"

Lloyd noticed the lack of interest in himself and changed directions, running towards the ranch entrance and stopped to face the Desians.

"You little brat!" one Desian snarled, brandishing his whip at Lloyd. The other two followed suit, and Lloyd unsheathed his own weapons. Behind them, Tobias and Genis made for the exit and didn't stop until they were past the sign that identified the ranch.

----------

"You think he's okay?" Tobias asked, shading his eyes and glancing up the cliff.

"There he is!" Genis cried.

Lloyd appeared at the edge of the cliff and jumped down, skidding a little since the cliff wasn't a sheer drop. At the top, a few Desians were gathered, but none of them made any moves to go after Lloyd.

"Lloyd! They saw your face! I'm sorry! It's all my fault!" Genis exclaimed as soon as Lloyd rejoined the group.

"Don't worry about it," Lloyd assured him.

"But…"

"I took out the ones that saw my face, and the rest of them are still back up on the cliff." He pointed at the cliff, where the Desians still were. "As long as we hurry up and get out of here, they'll never know."

Genis nodded, biting his lip. "O…kay."

Lloyd patted Genis' shoulder. "Hey, just do my homework for me, okay?"

"Okay." Genis brightened up a bit. Tobias frowned and crossed his arms, looking much like Raine in the same situation.

"All right then, I'm gonna head on home," Lloyd announced. "You two should go back to the village."

"Thanks for helping Marble, Lloyd."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right, Genis?"

Lloyd waved and headed back towards his house, and Genis and Tobias went towards the village. Up on the cliff, a teal-haired man watched the three part ways before turning to a Desian standing behind him.

"Analyze the data from the gate surveillance system!" he commanded.

"Yes, sir!" The Desian saluted and ran off.

"How did a mere _human_ make that kind of jump?" the man wondered.

* * *


	6. The Cogs of Fate

I would like to thank both people who reviewed my story so far. I love you--in a friendly way. And to the one who suggested making the battles longer, thank you for that advice.

* * *

Towards the other side of the forest, a ways before the trees actually started thinning out, was a clearing with a stream running through it and a large two-story house. The house was made almost entirely of wood, and had vines growing all over it. A stream with a log bridge across it ran through the clearing.

"Hey Noishe, watch it!"

The large dog-thing paid no attention to his owner as he dashed out of the forest and towards the house. Lloyd appeared a few seconds later, looking like he had fallen off the animal, or perhaps been pushed to the ground. He strolled across the bridge and stood briefly at a point where a faint path could be seen going to the right, where Noishe stood inside a vine-covered shelter and to the right, where the path ended at a large rectangular stone.

"I'm home, Mom," Lloyd said softly, glancing at the stone before heading inside the house.

Lloyd pushed the door open and was just closing it when a short, stocky man came into view. A dwarf, to be precise, named Dirk.

"Welcome back," Dirk greeted gruffly.

"Hi, Dad," Lloyd replied. "Say…is there any chance you could make me a Key Crest?"

"Why d'ya need a Key Crest all of a sudden?"

"I met someone today who has an Exsphere without a Key Crest," Lloyd answered truthfully. "An Exsphere without a Key Crest is bad for you, right? Or, wait, don't tell me that it's too late once you've attached an Exsphere without a Key Crest to your body."

Dirk shook his head. "Nah, not at all. But even removing an Exsphere that lacks a Key Crest is dangerous. The only thing to do is make an accessory out of inhibitor ore and carve the charm into that, making it into the Key Crest instead."

Lloyd brightened. "Hmmm. And then it'll be okay, huh? Then, could you make me a bracelet as soon as possible?"

"Just a minute," Dirk replied. "The Exsphere with no Key Crest that ya're talking about…who has it?"

That required a bit of fast thinking on Lloyd's part. "Huh? Ah…uhh…a traveler. A…uh…traveling mercenary. Yeah."

"Baloney," Dirk said, clearly not buying it. "Exspheres are basically only used by Desians. If he took one from a Desian, it should already have a Key Crest on it."

"Uhh…well..." Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck nervously and looked around the room for something that would help his case.

Dirk approaches his son, who responds by backing against the door. "Dwarven Vow #11: Lying is the first step to the path of thievery! Tell me the truth. Why do ya need a Key Crest?"

"I met someone at the ranch today who had an Exsphere equipped without a Key Crest," Lloyd said.

"Ya went to the ranch?!"

"I…I'm sorry," Lloyd apologized, holding his hands up in self-defense. "A bunch of stuff happened, and…"

"Ya didn't let the Desians see your Exsphere, did you?" Dirk interrupted.

"No, don't worry, I made sure." Lloyd placed his right hand over the bandaged left hand and stared at it. "But why is it so important to hide this thing? The mercenary that came to the village today wore his right out in the open."

"Your Exsphere is special."

Lloyd was confused. "Special? Is it different from the ones the Desians have equipped?"

"That Exsphere is your mother's keepsake. The Desians killed your mother in order to take it from her."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?!" Lloyd shouted, hands clenched into fists.

"If I had, ya'd have run out and tried to take revenge on the Desians right away. The Tower of Salvation appeared today. Just leave the rest to Colette. That'll take care of the Desians, too."

The swordsman sighed, defeated, opting not to mention the temple excursion. "But still…" he started to say before being interrupted again.

"Don't get involved with the Desians," Dirk advised. "Your mother protected you and that Exsphere with her life. Don't go throwing either away."

"So will you make me the Key Crest?" Lloyd asked hopefully.

"Have ya been listening at all, Lloyd?!" Dirk shouted.

"Yeah! I heard you!" Lloyd shouted back, once again angry. "But you can't expect me _not_ to do anything now that I know!"

Dirk responded by throwing a punch at Lloyd, who jumped back to avoid it, hitting the not-quite-closed door and tumbling outside.

"Ugh! You don't have to hit me!" Lloyd yelled from his spot on the ground. Just then, someone off to the left coughed, and Lloyd glanced over to see a group consisting of Genis, Tobias, Colette, Raine, and Kratos. "Oh, let me guess. You heard that just now?"

"Sorry, Lloyd. "Because of me, you…" Genis tried to apologize.

"It's okay, it's not your fault," Lloyd replied, standing back up and closing the door.

"Lloyd, Colette wanted to speak to you," Raine said. "You should do that. We'll wait here."

"Okay…"

"Let's go up to the terrace," Colette suggested.

"Yeah, su—just a minute, Colette." Lloyd had just seen Kratos break away from the group and head around the side of the house. Colette nodded.

"Okay. I'll be waiting on the bench."

Lloyd muttered "thanks" and jogged after Kratos. He found the mercenary in front of the rectangular stone, which turned out to be a gravestone with the name "Anna" engraved on it. When Lloyd approached, Kratos turned around.

"Whose gravestone is this?" he asked.

"Ah, you heard, right? It's my mom's." Lloyd looked suddenly downcast, staring at his feet.

A look of surprise flickered across Kratos' face, but quickly disappeared. "Anna, hm? Is your father alive?"

"I don't know. But Dirk is my dad."

"Yes," Kratos replied. "That was a careless thing to ask. I'm sorry."

Lloyd shakes his head. "Don't worry about it." He frowned for a second, then left Kratos alone with Anna's grave. Halfway down the path, he ran into Tobias, who was heading over to talk to Kratos, and Genis, who appeared to be hiding from Raine.

"Hey Genis."

"Lloyd, Desians are half-elves, right?" Lloyd nodded. "So does that mean that half-elves are responsible for your mother's death?" He looked slightly unnerved by this question.

"Well, not all half-elves are Desians, right? I don't care if they're half-elves or not."

"Y…yeah…" Genis replied.

Raine was either gone or inside, so Lloyd didn't bother seeking her out to talk, instead approaching Colette, who was sitting patiently on a bench by the front door.

"Are you done?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah."

----------

"I'm sorry for not finishing your birthday present in time," Lloyd said, smiling sheepishly.

"It's okay, don't worry about it!" Colette chirped.

Apparently that response didn't work for Lloyd. "But this sort of thing is special because you get it on your birthday, y'know?"

"Well then," Colette replied, clasping her hands together, "will you just wish me a happy birthday?"

"Of course." Lloyd chuckled. "Happy Birthday."

Colette giggled. "Thanks. I'm glad I was able to live to this day."

"What are you talking about?" Lloyd asked, leaning on the railing of the terrace and watching Tobias and Kratos talk down below. "You're going to keep on living and regenerate the world."

"Yeah…" Colette didn't sound too sure, though.

"So about tomorrow…I can't come along with you, can I?" Lloyd said, pouting.

"Well, the Desians are going to be after us and it's going to be a very dangerous journey," Colette explained.

"Desians…" Lloyd muttered. "Up till now, I always thought my mom died in an accident, but she was murdered by Desians!" He slammed a fist on the railing. "Now that I know the truth, there's no way that I could keep living in a village that has a treaty with them."

"I understand." Colette reached out to pat Lloyd's shoulder and the pair were silent for a few seconds, in which a loud whine and a startled yell from Genis could be heard.

"We're leaving tomorrow at noon," Colette said suddenly. "Would you come to the village around then?"

"Okay!" Lloyd agreed. "You got it! Now I'll be able to see you become an angel with my own eyes."

Colette giggled again and stared at the moon. "Yeah. So I'm really the child of an angel."

"Does it matter? Regardless of who your real father is, you're still you. Nothing's changed. You just have two fathers. Just think of yourself as being lucky for having more than most people do," Lloyd said.

"I suppose you're right."

"World regeneration, huh? It sounds exciting," Lloyd said.

"Yeah…releasing the seals, becoming an angel, and finally…" Colette trailed off.

"Finally?"

"N-nothing." Colette shook her head and changed the subject. "Anyway, if we go to the Seal of Fire, I'll get to see my father again. I'm going to do my best."

Suddenly, the door swung open and Raine and Genis appeared in the doorway.

"Are you ready to go, Colette?" Raine asked.

"Ah, yes, I'm coming," She joined the other two, giving Lloyd a small wave. "See you tomorrow, Lloyd."

"Yeah, see you."

He waited for the group to leave, after a brief group wave, and went back inside to sit on his bed.

"Okay. Time to start on that present!"

* * *

Next chapter: Interesting stuff happens! Okay, stuff that's more interesting than the stuff in this chapter.


End file.
